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Air Fryer or Baked Herb Meatballs + VIDEO

These air fryer meatballs are packed with flavor & can be served many different ways. No air fryer? No problem. You can also bake low-carb, paleo, whole30 herb meatballs.

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What Is An Air Fryer?

What is an air fryer exactly? The name air fryer is a little bit confusing, because when you cook food in your air fryer you aren’t actually frying it. An air fryer cooks your food by circulating hot air around the food at a very high-speed, cooking the food and producing a crispy ‘fried’ layer. This is called convection so your air fryer is actually a small countertop convection oven. An air fryer can help you cook your food faster while still getting a nice baked or fried texture on the outside, all with a very small amount of oil. Air fryers come in a variety of different sizes and styles. What you see here in the pics is a 5.8-quart air fryer that easily fit 1 pound worth of meatballs.

before (air fryer)

Healthy Air Fryer Meatball Recipe

I love a good meatball recipe. It was important to me that this air fryer meatball recipe be what I call the trifecta: low-carb, paleo, and whole30 compliant. Don’t worry, even though this is a healthy meatballs recipe, it’s not lacking in flavor. You can use your preferred ground meat whether it be beef, turkey, chicken or even pork. I used ground beef. To keep the meatballs low-carb, paleo, and whole30 compliant, I ditched the breadcrumbs in favor or almond flour. Can you make these with a different compliant flour like coconut flour or cassava flour? Sure. Use the flour that fits your lifestyle. Try to make the meatballs the same size and don’t make them too big or too small. I make 10-12 meatballs for this recipe. Of course if you have a preferred meatball recipe, you can swap it in for this one.

after (air fryer)

Meatball Recipes

Meatball Zoodle Soup

Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs

Meatball Dinner

Meatballs with Zoodles

Herb Mixture

I almost always use dry herbs with my cooking. For no other reason than they’re cheaper & easier to store. Feel free to get creative with the dried herbs. I used a combination of dried basil, oregano, and rosemary. Dried parsley and dried thyme also work with this air fryer meatball recipe. If you have an Italian seasoning blend, you can use 1 tablespoon of that instead of the separate dried herbs.

Freezing The Meatballs

You can freeze these herb meatballs either before or after you bake or air fry them. Personally I usually cook them first. Either way, arrange the cooked or uncooked meatballs in a single layer on a baking sheet & place in the freezer until solid. Once they’re ready, transfer the meatballs to a freezer bag. Uncooked meatballs can be stored in the freezer for 1-2 months & cooked meatballs will store for 2-3. If you’re using your air fryer for this herb meatball recipe you can cook or reheat the meatballs in directly from frozen! If you are baking these herb meatball, I suggest you thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before baking.

I used a 5.8-quart air fryer for this recipe.

Print
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air fryer meatballs on a white plate

Air Fryer or Baked Herb Meatballs

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

2 from 1 review

  • Total Time: 22 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 pound ground meat
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

Prepare the meatballs

  1. In a medium size bowl, mix together all the ingredients together until well blended.
  2. Shape into 10-12 evenly round meatballs.

Air Fryer

  1. Add the prepared meatballs to the air fryer basket in a single layer, do not overlap. You may need to cook your meatballs in batches depending on how big your air fryer is.
  2. Cook 380 degrees for 9-10 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through cooking.

Bake

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray. Add the prepared meatballs in a single layer to the baking sheet.
  2. Bake uncovered 18 to 22 minutes or until no longer pink in center.
  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 195
  • Sugar: 0.6 g
  • Sodium: 542.7 mg
  • Fat: 10.1 g
  • Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 1.9 g
  • Fiber: 0.8 g
  • Protein: 24.2 g
  • Cholesterol: 124.7 mg

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on one of the product links, I’ll might receive compensation. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/.

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Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

Amanda

Thursday 11th of August 2022

I did the air fryer version of the recipe and I didn't like the meatballs at all. The dried herbs overpowered the meat.

Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Italian Meatball Dinner (Paleo,Whole30) - Fit Slow Cooker Queen

Thursday 25th of October 2018

[…] you see in these pics are my herb meatballs that were baked and frozen a day ahead of time. By all means, feel free to use your favorite […]

Slow Cooker Meatball Zoodle Soup - Fit Slow Cooker Queen

Monday 16th of July 2018

[…] this works best with previously cooked meatballs. You can even use frozen meatballs. My baked herbed meatballs work great with this […]

Lorenzo

Wednesday 28th of March 2018

I like the lean turkey option instead of ground beef, and I really like how you kept this paleo by using almond flour- nice life hack!